Saturday, May 11, 2013

Timothy Leary Interviewed In Folsom Prison 1973

4 months of solitary confinement, followed by prison. The coward authorities thought they could break the man, instead while incarcerated he remained lighthearted, performed consciousness experiments and wrote, before escaping ;) Endless love for the man.

"The best philosophers end up in prison."

In case you're not aware of the details:
On January 21, 1970, Leary received a ten-year sentence for [possession of two marijuana roaches], with a further ten added later while in custody, for a previous [marijuana possession] arrest in 1965, twenty years in total to be served consecutively. When Leary arrived in prison, he was given psychological tests that were used to assign inmates to appropriate work details. Having designed some of the tests himself (including the “Leary Interpersonal Behavior Test”), Leary answered them in such a way that he seemed to be a very conforming, conventional person with a great interest in forestry and gardening. As a result, Leary was assigned to work as a gardener in a lower security prison, and in September 1970 he escaped. Leary claimed his non-violent escape was a humorous prank, and left a challenging note for the authorities to find after he was gone. For a fee, paid by The Brotherhood of Eternal Love, the Weathermen smuggled Leary and his wife, Rosemary Woodruff Leary, out of the United States and into Algeria. More here.